Cita Mineral hopes to complete alumina smelter end 2015
Friday, June 27 2014 - 03:59 AM WIB
IDX-listed mining company PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk expects the construction of the first phase of a planned 2 million-ton per annum (tpa) capacity alumina smelter in West Kalimantan to be completed by the end of next year.
Company Corporate Secretary Yusak Lumba Pardede said that the first phase 1 million tpa alumina smelter was projected to begin production in 2016.
?We?re optimistic the first phase will be completed at the end of 2015,? Yusak said at the company?s public expose meeting on Thursday.
He said that the first phase of the smelter will cost about US$650 million, while the second phase will cost around $350 million, which is expected to be completed in 2017.
Cita is teaming up with China?s Hongqiao Group in the alumina smelter project, being developed by joint venture company called PT Well Harvest Wining Alumina Refinery, in which Cita owns a 30 percent stake while Hongqiao owns a controlling 60 percent stake.
Liem Hok Seng, a director at Cita, said that construction of the project has now covered 30 percent of the targeted works. Ground breaking for the project was made in July of last year.
Yusak said that the smelter will require a total of 6 million tons of bauxite ores to produce 2 million tons of alumina products per year. The company will supply the ores from its concessions in West Kalimantan.
Elsewhere, Yusak said that the company will sell part of its alumina output from the smelter to state-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) following request from the government, while the remainder to be export to China.
He declined to disclose the composition between export and domestic market.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak